New radiative lifetimes of eight levels in Pr III have been measured using
the time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence method. A tunable frequency-do
ubled dye laser with 1-ns pulse duration was used to excite selectively dou
bly ionized praseodymium in a laser-produced plasma. The experimental resul
ts agree generally well with theoretical data, provided core-polarization e
ffects are considered in the calculations in an adequate way.